Crimes Against Critical Media Increased 4 Times – Violence Encouraged by Georgian Dream

Attack on journalists in Sagarejo

“As soon as I got out of the car and they saw the Mtavari TV channel microphone, they immediately started shouting aggressive slurs. Cameramen were cursed with obscene words. One of them set out towards me. I later found out that he was Mamuka Shakarishvili, an employee of the cleaning service and the son-in-law of Temur Ilauri. He tried to take away my microphone, but I held it tightly and he was unable to. They had purposely brought shards of a construction block. They threw glass bottles full of water at us. We entered the courtyard of the house, thinking we would be in relative safety, but I was hit with a rock in my shoulder. I felt horrible pain,” recalls Ia Guliashvili, regional correspondent of Mtavari Channel, who was covering the June 6 political event in Sagarejo during the attack.

Members of the City Council, activists, and city hall employees from Georgian Dream assembled in Sagarejo to disrupt the meeting of the Chairman of the National Movement party Levan Khabeishvili with the elderly. Georgian Dream assets ambushed Khabeishvili a few days earlier in Kaspi as well. They tried to disrupt the meeting there too, although in Sagarejo, they threw stones at the Opposition party Chairman and the journalists who arrived to cover the meeting. Only one reporter was spared.

“I’m from Imedi TV”

Is what Imedi TV regional journalist Kakha Kupatadze told one of the assailants, who approached him and demanded to stop filming:

“I told you not to film. Why are you filming?!” – The footage released by Public Broadcaster Channel One shows that the assailant tried to interfere with the journalist, but upon hearing Imedi and seeing the microphone, abandoned his assault.

Police were aware of the expected violence

Mtavari Channel journalist Ia Guliashvili says that the goons mobilized by Georgian Dream deliberately obstructed the media and physically assaulted them. They damaged the cameras of the cameramen to prevent the filming of the scene.

“The confrontation went on for 10-15 minutes. The assailants stopped only after they were satisfied with the amount of stones and punches they threw. Only after this did the head of Kakheti Police Department, Temur Kalandadze, arrive at the scene”.

Ia Guliashvili asked him where the police were until then – “We arrived 3 minutes after receiving a call,” replied the head of the regional police.

Teimuraz Kalandadze was accompanied by the Chiefs of Gurjaani, Lagodekhi, and Akhmeta police departments. Akhmeta is about 100 kilometers away from Sagarejo, and Lagodekhi is even further. Various persons from Sagarejo and Gurjaani police confirmed to Georgian News that the Chiefs gathered in Sagarejo in advance because they knew about the expected violence. In such a case, the law obliges the police to take preventive measures, but everything was done the other way around.

Journalists from TV Formula, Giorgi Kvizhinadze and Sulkhan Chkadua, were also prevented from doing their job and physically assaulted.

An investigation into the acts of violence against journalists was launched. According to Ia Guliashvili, she and her cameraman were interrogated. Extensive footage of the violence is readily available, 5 days have passed since the incident; the investigative service has not detained a single person. Mtavari Channel regional correspondent does not expect that anyone will be punished.

On July 6, journalist activities of Mtavari Channel reporter Guga Maisuradze were interfered with in the Sagarejo Municipal Hall building.

Kaspi – here too, the critical media is being targeted

Sagarejo’s scenario was similar to the organized violence in Kaspi on June 30. Specially gathered civil servants met the local correspondent of Mtavari Channel Giorgi Akhalkatsi with severe hostility. Georgian Dream activists verbally insulted him during a live broadcast.

The investigative service contacted Akhalkatsi themselves and asked if he wished to press charges with the agency. Akhalkatsi believes that the signs of crime in the June 30 incident are obvious, although he did not proceed with the investigative agency:

“One year ago, we were expelled from the public session of the Kaspi City Council using force, led by the district police chief. Then this agency superficially questioned us and are telling us that the investigation is still ongoing. Now can you trust this agency?!”

Giorgi Akhalkatsi is convinced that with the approaching elections. The situation in regions will worsen and journalists have tough days ahead of them.

Crimes against journalists in 2023 – an incomplete list

Assault on Misha Mshvildadze – On June 27, in Tbilisi, one of the TV Formula founders was attacked. Misha Mshvildadze was walking on the street. He was beaten and injured. The attack was captured by security cameras. “I beat him because he refers to the church as criminals, says that a cross is a symbol of violence, swears at the patriarch, Georgian nation, and protects homosexuals, also, insults me and my friends on Facebook. I am not going to hide,” wrote Nikoloz Gugeshashvili on social media the day after the crime. It is worth noting that citizen Soso Maisuradze, who attacked Zurab Japaridze on June 17, the leader of the opposition party Girchi - More Freedom and injured him, confessed to the crime using identical form and wording. Gugeshashvili was sentenced to pre-trial detention, however, TV Formula claims, based on video footage of the crime, that the attack was organized by the State Security Service (SSSG), and the SSSG investigator Giorgi Mumladze was involved. According to TV Formula information, Mumladze is the godson of SSSG deputy chief, Levan Akhobadze. The channel publicized footage that shows Mumladze tailing Mshvildadze.

Death threats – On May 24, the editor of the online publication Mountain Stories, Gela Mtivlishvili, received threatening messages – “Take this video down, or I will find you. I will shoot you through the head… you mother*** I will find you and cut off your head. I swear on my brother’s soul, his bones, I will cut off your head. They can put me in prison, I don’t give a f**, I will erase you.” The threats are related to the investigative film published the previous day. The journalist applied to the Special Investigation Service, the investigation was launched under the 2nd part of Article 154 of the Criminal Code, which stands for illegally obstructing the professional activity of a journalist by threats of violence. The investigator interviewed the author of the threat about three weeks later and has not been arrested yet.

Obstructing journalist activity in Kvareli – On May 20, the regional correspondent of the TV Formula station in Kakheti, Davit Chabashvili, was prevented from conducting journalism works by Kvareli Lake security service staff, Akhmeta police chief Giorgi Chokuri, and several other policemen. Family members of Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were present at Kvareli Lake and were planning to hold a wedding ceremony. The hotel administration was refusing to confirm the visit of Lavrov’s family members, including sanctioned persons. Due to particularly high public interest, the journalist tried to verify the fact and entered the Kvareli forest via a detour. The video footage shot by him shows how he is forced to stop filming after security guards chase after him, and how he is forcefully dragged out of the forest under the instructions of the Akhmeta police chief, to prevent him from obtaining important information. An investigation into this fact was never initiated.

Attack on TV Pirveli camera crew in Dedoplistskaro – The video footage published on April 29 shows how the business partners of the Prime Minister’s family, Nugzar Alughishvili and Zakaria Bostoghashvili attack investigative journalists and insult them. The journalists were investigating the case related to the winery of Irakli Gharibashvili's father, Tariel Gharibashvili, and a possible act of corruption. A few months before that, Alughishvili sued TV Pirveli for defamation and demanded compensation for spreading false claims. Journalist Maka Andronikashvili told Georgian News that the special investigative service also obtained video footage of the attack and obstruction, but took no measures.

Attack on TV Pirveli journalists in Ozurgeti – On March 15, in the village of Bakhvi, a member of the violent pro-Russian party Alt-Info attacked journalist Nato Gogelia, physically assaulted her, and broke her cellphone. Andghuladze is one of the Alt-Info activists who, on the previous day, took down and burned the European Union flag erected near the parliament building. Andghuladze was arrested for the attack. The district court sentenced him to pretrial detention, however, the Kutaisi Court of Appeal released him from the courtroom on 3 thousand GEL bail. Previously, on January 31, February 2 and 5, unidentified perpetrators broke into Nato Gogelia's house. In the first case, the memory card and TV were stolen, in the second and third, the house was ransacked. None of the cases have been investigated. The threats against the journalist and her underage children continued in the following days, however, according to Gogelia, the investigative service was no longer interested: “They are so idle that it is not worth appealing. Yes, he was arrested and charged, but they did not collect evidence that would better characterize Andghuladze's personality. There is a criminal case of domestic violence against this person in Ozurgeti police. He is a typical bully. Such a man was just set free by the court. According to my information, he has previously been convicted of a serious crime in another country. I submitted the threatening messages to the investigative service, and threats against me and my children can still be looked up on social networks. There was zero reaction.”

In March, the rights of 21 journalists and cameramen were violated during the coverage of the protest rallies held against the “Russian Law on Agents,” according to the data of the non-governmental organization Media Ombudsman. The Special Investigation Service has initiated two criminal cases:

On the events of March 2 - when Vakhtang Kareli, the photojournalist of the TV Formula, Mikheil Gvadzbia, the Netgazeti journalist, and Tamar Gegidze, the editor of On.ge, were forcibly expelled from the internal territory of the Parliament.

During the events of March 7-9 - when law enforcement officers were obstructing journalist activities of reporters and cameramen using violent methods, such as pepper spray, water cannons, gas canisters, and physical assaults (dragging people using belts, throwing scrolls, hitting on the head, kicking), etc.

None of the cases have been investigated by the Special Investigation Service.

On March 2, Zura Vardiashvili, editor of the online publication Publika, and Beka Jikurashvili, a journalist from Tabula, were illegally arrested near the parliament building. The video footage taken by Georgian News proves beyond doubt that the Director of the Patrol Police Department, Vazha Siradze, exceeds authority and issues an illegal order to arrest Vardiashvili, which the officers promptly execute despite the fact that Vardiashvili did nothing wrong.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs did not have a single piece of evidence that would prove the violation of any article of the law by the journalists, although Judge Nino Shcherbakov still found both of them guilty and fined them two thousand GEL each.  

The Special Investigation Service is bragging about its clearance rate in crimes against the media - the investigation was initiated on 12 criminal cases, for which 7 persons were brought to justice. The agency has not yet provided us with the data for 2023, however, according to what we have calculated using open sources, the number of crimes under Article 154 of the Criminal Code has increased 4 times compared to last year.

The cases of secret surveillance of journalists have still not been investigated. In the so-called „case of leaked files from SSSG,“ 48 journalists have been recognized as victims.